FIRST IN A NEW SERIES! When an American tourist is murdered with a scone in Gemma Rose’s quaint Oxfordshire tearoom, she suddenly finds herself apron-deep in a mystery involving long-buried secrets from Oxford’s past.
Armed with her insider knowledge of the University and with the help of four nosy old ladies from the village (not to mention a cheeky little tabby cat named Muesli), Gemma sets out to solve the mystery—all while dealing with her matchmaking mother and the return of her old college love, Devlin O’Connor, now a dashing CID detective.
But with the body count rising and her business going bust, can Gemma find the killer before things turn to custard? (**Traditional English scone recipe included)

First Line

I never thought I’d end the week facing an American with a sharp knife.

What I thought of this book

This is my first cozy mystery by this author and I really enjoyed it. I am a huge fan of the ones set in England and having this one set close to Oxford and in a Tearoom was a lot of fun.

Gemma left her good paying job in Australia to come back and home and pursue a dream of opening a tearoom. Her mother can’t get over the fact that she would just leave a great job to open a tearoom and is always trying to act like she will go back to the other job. She also is trying to set her up with someone which drives Gemma crazy. The other thing about her mother that drives her crazy is she can’t seem to remember her ipad password. (This cracks me up because it reminded me so much of my father…lol)

Her little tearoom is just getting a good start and picking up with business when this horrible American who caused a bit of trouble the day before is found dead in front of her tearoom. Not only dead but with a scone shoved in his mouth. As if this wasn’t bad enough she finds out her ex-boyfriend is the detective on the scene. She would never have though that Devlin would have become a detective and him being around brings up a lot of emotions.

Gemma knows the American has some sort of ties to Oxford and she thinks it might be what got him killed so she starts digging into things. Then when a horrible article comes out and pretty much brings her little tearoom to a stand still she knows she must find the killer or she was going to have to shut down.

I really like Gemma, she was a lot of fun. We also like the same Jane Austen book Persuasion. I think she likes that one so much cause it’s about second chances and I think she still pines for her ex-boyfriend. Now that he is back in town maybe there will be a chance for them to have a second chance. He was her first love and even though at times it got a little annoying because of how she acted I think I could understand why.

I have a feeling this series is going to be a lot of fun cause I love a few of the secondary characters such as her mom and friend Cassie. If you like cozy mysteries and an English setting then you will enjoy this series.

Sonya Steele

I am so glad to hear you also enjoyed this one. I also liked the setting in the Uk so close to Oxford. I kinda liked her mother and how their relationship was a bit rocky, but realistic too and it was fun how she kept forgetting her password, she has something new to focus on in the next book, lol. I thought Gemma was a great main character and the second book is really good too. Great review!

Stormi

It was a lot of fun and her mother reminded me of my father when it comes to computers and passwords…lol. I wonder if the author would send me the second one since I did the tour and didn’t get my book from netgalley like you did? 🙂

I enjoy a cozy English mystery sometimes as well. I don’t read them a lot but when I do, I usually really enjoy them. Glad this one was a good one for you. The idea of dying by scone is a new one to me!

Thank you so much for your lovely review! It’s so funny – I’ve had so many comments from readers now saying that Gemma’s mother reminds them of their own mothers, fathers, aunts, mothers-in-law, etc. She IS inspired by a real-life family member of mine but I didn’t realise that so many others would have technologically-challenged relatives too – ha! ha!

I’m so happy that you enjoyed the book and yes, of course, I’d be more than happy to provide you with Book 2 (Tea with Milk and Murder) to review too. If you could just send me an email to: contact@hyhanna.com then I can send you the download link.

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